Lakeshore Garden Centres Plant Finder

Other Names:  Psidium guajava ssp. pyriferum

Description:

An evergreen shrub or small tree with a rounded habit and attractive leaves arranged in pairs; white flowers are followed by greenish-yellow, pear shaped fruit that is crisp, tart, and good for fresh eating; considered invasive in some warm climate areas

Edible Qualities

Pear Guava is a large shrub that is typically grown for its edible qualities, although it does have ornamental merits as well. It produces green oblong fruit with creamy white flesh which are typically harvested when mature. The fruit will often fade to chartreuse over time. The fruits have a tart taste with a crisp texture and a sweet fragrance.

The fruit are most often used in the following ways:

• Fresh Eating
• Cooking
• Preserves
• Juice-Making
• Canning

Features & Attributes

Pear Guava is clothed in stunning white pincushion flowers with creamy white anthers along the branches from late winter to mid spring. It has green foliage with grayish green undersides. The textured oval pinnately compound leaves remain green throughout the winter. It features an abundance of magnificent green berries from mid summer to mid fall, which fade to chartreuse over time. The fruit can be messy if allowed to drop on the lawn or walkways, and may require occasional clean-up. The peeling coppery-bronze bark is extremely showy and adds significant winter interest.

This is a multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a mounded form. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition. This is a high maintenance plant that will require regular care and upkeep, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It is a good choice for attracting birds, bees and butterflies to your yard. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Suckering
• Invasive
• Self-Seeding

Aside from its primary use as an edible, Pear Guava is sutiable for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens
• Orchard/Edible Landscaping
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Pear Guava will grow to be about 20 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 15 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 30 years. This is a self-pollinating variety, so it doesn't require a second plant nearby to set fruit.

This shrub is quite ornamental as well as edible, and is as much at home in a landscape or flower garden as it is in a designated edibles garden. It does best in full sun to partial shade. You may want to keep it away from hot, dry locations that receive direct afternoon sun or which get reflected sunlight, such as against the south side of a white wall. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. This plant should not require much in the way of fertilizing once established, although it may appreciate a shot of general-purpose fertilizer from time to time early in the growing season. It is particular about its soil conditions, with a strong preference for rich, acidic soils. It is quite intolerant of urban pollution, therefore inner city or urban streetside plantings are best avoided. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone over the growing season to conserve soil moisture. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Pear Guava is a good choice for the edible garden, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its height, it is often used as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden. Be aware that in our climate, most plants cannot be expected to survive the winter if left in containers outdoors, and this plant is no exception. Contact our experts for more information on how to protect it over the winter months.

This plant is not reliably hardy in our region, and certain restrictions may apply; contact the store for more information.